Time to Retire School Board Members

Although I no longer have children in the Conejo Valley Unified School district, I am a homeowner in the University Elementary area who is extremely angry with the decision to close our neighborhood school.

Those of you who were living in Thousand Oaks ten years ago may recall how vehemently school board members and realtors argued for a $97 million bond initiative. Their main argument was that our schools were over crowded and in desperate need of repair. Members of the Conejo Valley Board of Realtors argued because property values are in direct relation to the area schools housing prices would plummet if we didn't pass the bond.

The teachers and administrators forced students to give up their Saturday to attend a rally and distribute materials in favor of the bond, all paid for by the tax-payers.

After two failed election; one general election in November of 1997, one special election in March of 1998 (which cost the tax payers an estimated cost of $100,000), the bond initiative finally passed in 2000, at a substantial savings; the $97 million 40 year bond was trimmed to $88 million to be paid over 25 years.

Now, this very same board who was crying for money to repair our schools and build additional classrooms due to the overcrowding, is now going to CLOSE two of these schools even though we are all still PAYING the bond debt and will continue to do so for another 17 YEARS.

It is no surprise that the number of students in our schools is declining. Elementary students soon graduate High School and young, new families cannot afford to move into neighborhoods where the average price of a home is in excess of $500,000.00. If they can find a home for sale since most residents are not going to sell their homes in this current real estate market.

So, the Board believes only solution to the declining student population, which may only be temporary at best, is to close entire campus' at two or more locations. The fallout from this decision, as it was for the bonds, will be felt for decades.

Property values near the closed schools will decline rapidly. Children who could walk to school, and receive much needed exercise, will now have to be driven to another location, further increasing their potential for obesity. Gas prices are soaring. Even with car pools, we will have an increase in gas emissions, which are blamed for potential global warming, and the residents of Thousand Oaks will continue to pay off the huge $88 million debt these same school board members gave us, along with a laundry list of empty promises.

Dorothy Beubien has sat on the school board since 1988. Delores Didio since 1983. They are both coming up for re-election in November. These women have served long past their time and need to retire by not seeking re-election or the voters of Conejo Valley will retire them by voting them out of office. Patricia Phelps, Michael Dunn and Timothy Stephens term will end in 2010, however we can remove them through a recall petition and ballot initiative.

We need new blood sitting on the School Board. We need people with vision and optimism, not political knee-jerk reactionaries who continue to lead us down the road of financial doom and education destruction.